Blind Gamer has MaD SkillZ

I love coming across stories of people overcoming the odds, and achieving things which logically shouldn’t be possible. Brice Mellen is such a person. He is a gamer, and he is pretty much unbeatable at certain games. Nothing special about that… except for the fact that he is totally blind, and has been since birth.

This lad has honed his skills by using audio cues and seeking answers to on-screen menu options from people so that he could memorise his moves, and the screen layouts. Apparently his game-de-jour is Soul Caliber 2 and so far, no one can beat him at it.

Not only is this 17 year old a whiz at computer games, but he plans on going into the games design industry when he finishes college. Judging by his tenacity to date, I wouldn’t put it past him. Go check out the full story and then try to imagine how you would do playing your favourite games, with your eyes shut. Pretty impressive isn’t it!

Dead People Must Pay To Avoid Telemarketing!

There are various forms of scum, chief among them being spammers and telemarketers (the difference between both is something I’m still struggling with), and now I’ve come across a story which just reminds me of how insane our world is.

To quote from the article it seems that Members of society who have the misfortune of being dead, will have the option to opt out of calls from telemarketers. According to the Chicago Sun Times, the Direct Marketing Association, which represents 5,200 businesses and organisations involved in marketing via mail, telephone, e-mail and the mass media, has announced the formation of a Deceased Do-Not-Contact List.

And the catch?… Basically the un-alive have to send a $1 to the outfit that will put them on the list.

It will be interesting to see how many mediums present their services to the telemarketers in order to ‘commune’ with the dead to obtain the $1. Then again, you will need some ghostly bankers, not to mention some deceased laywers… yeah the whole deal just looks peachy doesn’t it

Excuse Me, But Your Sunglasses Are Ringing!!

Yes, you did read the title of this post correctly

It seems that Motorola and Oakley have come together to jointly develop the concept of a sunglass / phone combo. As mad as that sounds, they have actually gone ahead and done it. I caught this story over on InformationWeek.com today which basically lays out the details.

To quote the article…

You can grab the full story here. Enjoy

Battlefield 2 - DICE Speak about V1.03

Yes - I’ll admit that one of the reasons for slow updates of late is my addiction to this wonderful online game. Just about when I get to the point that I think ‘thats that then!’… I manage to discover new / hidden depths, better tactics, better teamwork… just better period.

The official Official EA Battlefield 2 Site has an article up from the developers, Digital Illusions (DICE) informing the BF2 community what to expect from the next patch (V1.03) which is due to ship around end of August 2005 (if all goes to plan). The full article (22/07/05) contains details of over 140 specific bug fixes, improvements, teamplay changes, balance changes etc. I’d recommend you follow the link and check it out to see what’s coming next month from the development team, and then get back to feeding that addiction for pulse racing online shoot ‘em up insanity

CIA Screws With Irish Civil Liberties!

I received the following information from my wife in the email this morning, and as she said herself, I’m so angry I’m breathless, if not speechless, at the absolute insanity of this situation. The following is an extract from a local Irish Newspaper - and there are many such articles covering this story online anyway at this point - which has raised my eyebrows, got me mad as hell and will probably end up getting me into trouble with either the local fuckwits (AKA Government/Politicians) or the foreign fascists (AKA Yanks on tour)

Essentially an agreement has been signed between the Irish Governement and the USA, allowing the freakin CIA to interrogate Irish citizens in secrecy, with no oversight. This also provides for the freezing of assets, the torturing of said citizens and worst of all, for all of this to take place on Irish soil, in secrecy!!! In exactly what fucked up universe does this make sense to anyone?

Read more

Perhaps DOOM aint DOOMED after all

After a long long list of absolutely crappy and shitty game to movie efforts in the past few years, the daddy of all games - DOOM - is about to hit a Cinema near you around October this year. Hopes were not riding high for this movie based on early script and set reports, however a snippit of info gleaned from the San Diego Comic Con by Gamecloud.com may offer some hope to rabid fans waiting on the movie.

First the good news… The setting is on MARS after all; the creatures you have all been waiting for (IMP, HELL BARON etc.) are all being created by the Stan Winston Creature Effects Workshop - so quality is possible here after all; the movie is getting an ‘R’ rating - so lots of blood, gore and violence are hoped for and the best bit of all… in a nod to the original and subsequent game(s), one set piece of the film will be filmed from a First Person Perspective with weapon reloads, pouncing monsters and everything else you can think of from the game.

Go and grab the full story and read the news for yourself. We can only hope for something slightly better than excrement given the track record of game-to-movie tie ins, but at least some of the above makes it sound possible, if even at an outside chance

Robots Replace Child Jockeys at Camel Races

As ever, when I come upon some weird and wonderful news I believe is worth referring to here at Howl @ The Moon! I feel it my duty to get it published as fast as possible, and this item is no exception!

Imagine if you will the scenario where child labour (slaves some would call it) has been used for hundreds of years in order to provide entertainment to the masses, where children have been trained since early ages in the sport?!? of Camel Racing… and now imagine if you will that the “man” has decided that slavery is in fact “not the done thing” any more, and that child labour should be regulated within proper boundaries. So - given this obstacle what, you may ask yourself, is the perfect response from sporting enthusiasts over in the UAE? Why robots of course! Obvious isn’t it

I shit you not… The UAE has decided to employ the concept of racing robots on the back of Camels in order to preserve their sport, dressing them like kids in the process to preserve the ‘image’. How fucked up is that? For the full story (which really has to be read to be believed) and a photo, browse on over to Reuters and have a gander.